Nestable and stackable fiberboard container



May 7, 1957 CQHEN 2,791,365

NESTABLE AND STACKABLE FIBERBOARD CONTAINER Filed Dec. 4, 195a 4Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR; IsADoRE COHEN May 7, 1957 2,791,365

NESTABLE AND STACKABLE FIBERBOARD CONTAINER Filed D90. 4, 1955 l. COHEN4 Sheets-Sheet 2 i i-T INVENTOR. IsADoRE COHEN y 1957 l. COHEN 2,791,365

NESTABLE AND STACKABLE FIBERBOARD CONTAINER Filed Dec. 4, 1953 4Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. ISADORE Comm l. COHEN May 7, 1957 NESTABLE ANDSTACKABLE FIBERBOARD CONTAINER Filed Dec. 4, 195a 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

' ISADoRE COHEN United States Patent "ice NESTABLE AND STACKABLEFIBERBGARD- CONTAINER Isadore Cohen, Brooklyn,

ApplicationDecemher'4, 1 953, SerlallNo. 396,192"

1' Claims (.Cl.v 229-23).

This invention relates to a fiberboard container of reinforcedconstruction, particularly adapted for nesting and stacking duringshipment and. use.

An important object of: the present invention is toprovide a containeras described that will be inexpensively but. strongly. constructed fromapair of readily folded, specially shaped blanks of. fiberboard: orsimilar material, easily. assembled and strongly secured through the useofconventional staples.

Another object of importance is toprovide, in. association. with thesuperposed. blanks, a continuously extending, inexpensive, reinforcingframe that cooperates with the connecting staples in holding togetherand bracing the walls of the container.

Yet anotherobject is to provide a container as stated which will.include. oppositely disposed, swingably' mountedstacking frames attachedto selected walls of the-containerby foldingof adjacentportions of" oneof the blanks uponone another, with. said frames beingswifitly'adjustable between positions in one of whichthey-permitstacking; of the containers without, damage tothe contentsthereof, and in the other of which they. are inoperatively disposed to.permit nesting; of empty containers.

Stillanother objectis to so shape the stacking frames, inat least one"for-m of the-invention, as to. causethe stacking frames toprovide addedreinforcementforepposite wall-s'of the container when the containers.are stacked. one" upon, another.

For further comprehension of the..-invention, and1 of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference. will. be had to thefollowing description.and accompanying drawings,

and to the-appended. claim in which the various-features of theinvention. are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. l is a perspective view, in which: part has been broken away, of acontainer formed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional viewon line'Z-Z of Fig: 1'.

Fig. 3- is a longitudinal sectional view on line 3'3' of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view' of one blank used in makingthe container:

Fig. 5 is a plan view-'ofa second blank used'inmaking a container.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the stacking frames per se.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the brace frame per se.

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view showing a plurality of the containersnested.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 showing the containers stacked.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of a container equipped with amodified form of stacking frame.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail sectional view on line 11-11 of Fig. 10.

2,791,365 Patented May 7, 1957 Fig. 121 is a similar view to Fig. 1 butshowing a still further modification of the invention.

Fig, 1 3 is a. front elevational view of Fig. 12, partly in. section.

Fig. 14. is a perspective view of a modified stacking frame used inFig.12.

The container 10 is formed from first and second fiberboard blanks. 12,14 (Figs. 5 and 4). Blank 12 is shaped to. include a rectangular outerbottom panel 16 integrally connected at its. side edges to the loweredges of side panels 18, along fold lines 20. At its ends, the bottompanel I6fis integral-with bottom panel end fiaps22, which are fol'dableupwardly. along fold lines extending along the. end' edges of the bottompanel.

The. side panels, have end edges oppositely inclined to diverge inadirection away f'romthe bottom panel, that is, upwardly considering thecontainer in its assembled condition. Integrally connected to the endedges of the side panels, and foldable inwardly along the lines of theirconnections, are side panelend flaps, 24. Integrally connected, to. the.top edges of the side panels are side panel top .flaps 26.

Theblank 14 isformed with a rectangular inner bottom panel 28 integralalong its side edges withbottom panel side, flaps 30. Outer end panels32 are integrally connected. along. fold lines 34 to the. end. edges ofpanel 28, andintegrally connected. to the upper or outer edges of theendpanels 32 are inner end panels 36, foldable upon the; panels32.along,the lines of their integral connections, as. shown. at 38.Handle slots 40, 42. are formed in the panels32, 36 respectively, andregister when the panels 36 are folded upon the panels 32. Inner endpanel side flaps 44 are integrally connected to the side edges of therespective inner end panels. 36.

A continuously extending, rectangular bracing frame 46 is shown in Fig.7, and is shaped from a length of stout rod of wire. material, the endsof saidlength being brought into abutting relation and being welded orotherwise fixedly joined.

In assembling the container, the blank 12 is first laid flat upon thefloor, and the blank 14 is laid thereover, the relative position of theblanks being as shown in Figures. 4: and 5. Then, the outer end panels32 of the blank 14. are folded upwardly along lines 34, end flaps 22are. folded upwardly so. as toextend along the lower edges, of endpanels 32v and exteriorly thereof (see Figures Land 3,), and a row ofstaples 48 is applied to connect flaps22to end panels 32.

Thezbrace frame is now positioned with-its ends against the innersurfaces of the outer end panels 32', adjacent the. fold hnes 38.Stacking frames 58 are now positioned over the; inner end panels, andare supported upon the ends of the brace frame. Thereaftenthe inner endpanels 36 are folded along said lines 38, to lie. against the innersurfaces of panels 32. One or two staples may be applied just below thebrace frame, extending through the superposed outer and inner endpanels, to temporarily holdthe brace frame and stacking. frames,and-the; container ends, in proper'position.

The side panels 18 of blank 12 are now folded upwardly along the lines20, and the end flaps 24 thereof are folded to overlie the side edges ofthe outer end panels 32 at the corners of the container as shown inFigure l. Staples 50 are now applied, extending through the flaps 24,and through the side edge portions of the superposed outer and inner endpanels 32, 36, said staples being spaced vertically to effect a strongconnection.

Meanwhile, when the side panels 18 are folded upwardly, the side flaps30 of the inner bottom panel 28 will have been folded upwardly as shownin Figures 1, 2, and 3, to extend along the inner surfaces of the sidepanels 3 18, at the lower edges thereof. Staples 52, spacedlongitudinally of flaps 30, are extended therethrough and through theside panels to Connect the same.

Further, the side flaps 44 of inner end panels 36 will have been foldedto lie against the inner surfaces of side panels 18, at the ends of saidside panels. Staples 54 are then applied to connect the same to thesidepanels.

The top flaps 26 of the side panels, as a next step, are folded inwardlyand downwardly to lie against the inner surfaces of the top edgeportions of the side panels, and staples 56, spaced longitudinally ofthe folded top flaps, connect the same to the side panels, thus formingtubular portions along the container sides at the top thereof portionsdiverging in the direction of the longer or outer side portion. Theinner side portion of each stacking frame is enclosed within the spacebetween the upper edge portions of the end panels 32, 36, and issupported by the adjacent end of the brace frame against excessivedownward movement. 1

Referring now to Figure 8, it is seen that when the containers areempty, they may be nested compactly, for shipment, or for storage. Inthe nested relationship of the containers, the stacking frames are swungoutwardly so as not to interfere with the nesting.

When, however, the containers are filled, as for example with articlesthat must not be crushed, such as loaves of bread, they may be stackedone upon another by swinging the stacking frames inwardly to theposition shown in Figure 9. This causes the outer side portions of thestacking frames to be supported upon the sides of the container, therebypermitting a number of the containers to be stacked without possibilityof damage to the contents thereof.

In Figures 10 and 11, a modified form is shown wherev in the stackingframes are slightly changed in shape. The

ing frame has parallel inner and outer side portions 64,

66 respectively, and diverging, short end portions 68. At the ends ofthe outer side portion, where it merges into the end portions 68, thereare formed crimps 70 of inverted U shape, the bights of which areadapted to extend into notches 72 formed in the upper edges of the con--tainer sides.

This arrangement has a desirable result, in that when the stackingframes are swung inwardly to stacking position, the crimps engage thesides of the container to prevent spreading thereof under the load ofthe stacked' containers disposed thereabove. Further, the outer sideportion is located below the plane of the top of the container, thusinsuring that the container supported thereupon will be held againstsidewise and endwise movement from its stacked position, by reason ofits being 4 engageable by the upper edges of the supporting containerssides or ends should the supported container tend to shift.

In Figs. 12-14 another modified form is shown wherein the stackingframes 62' are similar to the previous form shown in Figs. 10 and 11except that their free ends 62 are spaced from one another. In this formof the invention no notches are provided in the container sides andtherefore the crimps are adapted to rest on the edges 18 of the sidepanels 18 of the container 10'. In other respects this form of theinvention is similar to the previous forms and the various parts may berecognized by corresponding reference numerals with a prime added.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

A container comprising a rectangular shaped receptacle having pairs ofopposed walls, and endless stacking frames movably connected to one pairof walls, said frames being adjustable between an inoperative positionwherein they are disposed exteriorly of the space within the receptacleto permit nesting of a plurality of the containers, and an operativeposition in which they are supported within said space upon the otherpair of opposed walls of the receptacle,'for stacking of a plurality ofcontainers one upon another, said receptacle being formed from a pair offolded fiberboard blanks, one of the folded blanks including a bottompanel and the first named walls of the receptacle, and the other foldedblank including a bottom panel overlapping the first named bottom panel,said other blank further including said other pair of opposed walls ofthe receptacle, side flaps on said other blank, each of the first namedwalls of the receptacle comprising a pair of integrally connected endpanels folded upon themselves to form a space therebetween through whichthe stacking frame associated therewith may extend, said other wallsincluding top flaps overlying said side flaps and secured thereto, theseveral walls of the receptacle being stapled together at the corners ofthe receptacle, said receptacle further including a continuouslyextending brace frame secured to the several walls of the receptacle attheir upper edges and extending through the full periphery of thereceptacle,

including the space receiving the stacking frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,061,414 Tufts et al Nov. 17, 1936 2,105,179 Best Jan. 11, 19382,175,476 Martin Oct. 10, 1939 2,321,536 Wells June 8, 1943 2,395,542Fordon Feb. 26, 1946 2,493,281 Anderson Ian. 3, 1950 2,569,205 UllrichSept. 25, 1951 2,606,709 Carey et a1. Aug. 12, 1952

